Australian Cuisine

Lamington

Lamington is considered an Australian specialty. This treat was named after Lord Lamington, the governor of Queensland from 1895 up to 1901.

Lamington is made of a square sponge cake with chocolate coating and served with shredded coconut. It is best eaten with your afternoon tea. You can find Lamington in almost all the cake shops in every city in the country. You can also opt to prepare one yourself.

For the cake, you generally need self-rising flour, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. For the icing, you will need water, butter, vanilla, icing sugar, cocoa, and desiccated coconut. Instructions for making this delicious dessert can easily be found online.

Yabby

The yabby is a freshwater crayfish that is common in Australia. The farm-raised types, which can be bought at typical markets, weigh from two to five ounce – but there are some types of yabby that can weigh up to 10 pounds.

The yabby’s meat tastes very sweet. Many large city markets in the United States import this seafood live from the western regions of Australia.

Yabbies are best eaten with the special dry white wine that was specifically created for this purpose. The wine is called the St. Hallett’s Poacher’s Blend.

Pavlova

This is a popular and delicious party dessert that is composed of a shell of meringue with fresh fruits and whipped cream. The creation of this treat is attributed to Chef Bert Sachse, who made this dessert in honor of the great prima ballerina, Anna Matveena Pavlova.

Sachse created the dessert when Pavlova was a guest at the Perth’s Esplanade Hotel, where he was working .

The Pavlova is now considered a national dish.

Lots of restaurants and cake stores offer Pavlova, but you can also download its recipes so that you can try making the dessert on your own. The first part of the process is making the glossy meringue. You only need to put the fillings in when the cake is about to be served.

The best fruits to use for this dessert include bananas, kiwis, strawberries, raspberries, and ripe mangoes.

Bush tucker

The term bush tucker in Australia refers to any native food originally gathered and consumed by the Aborigines. This includes both flora and fauna. Examples of bush tuckers are finger limes, riberries, Davidson’s plum, bunya nut, and macadamia nut. Also under the bush tucker category are witchetty grubs and crocodile, emu, and kangaroo meat – this last is commonly found in supermarkets and costs almost just as much as ordinary beef.

Balmain Bugs

If you love seafood, you should never leave Australia without trying out another local favorite: the Balmain bugs, also known as slipper lobsters. Once cooked in salted water, the flesh of this sea food gives out a great taste that will make you want to grab some more. Note, however, that only the tail of the Balmain bug contains edible meat.

Balmain bugs are often served with mango sauce, which best complements the seafood’s flavor